The
total population for mainland China was 1,338.61 million by the end of
2009. China's population is expected to increase by about 10
million a year, hitting a peak of 1.46 billion in the 2030s. Of the total
population, over 80 percent live in the eastern half of the country.
Those living in urban areas were 502.12 million, accounting for 39.1
percent and those living in rural areas were 782.41 million, accounting
for 60.9 percent. The proportion of population aged from 0 to 14 years
was 22.4 percent, that aged 15-64 years was 70.3 percent. The
proportion of population aged 65 and over was 7.3 percent with total
aged population standing at 93.77 million.

China
experienced one of the fastest demographic transitions in history in
the second half of the twentieth century. Mortality rates decreased and
average life expectancy rose from 42 years in 1950 to 73 in 1997.
Fertility rates fell from an average of 6 children per woman in 1950
and the average family size was 3.58 persons in 1999.

Trends
towards urbanization and a shift in population from the agricultural to
the service sector have continued since the 1990s. For example, the
urban population increased from 30.9 percent to 37.7 percent from 1999
to 2001, 86.8 millions people moved from the countryside to the cities,
which provide urban areas with a great number of cheap labour and a new
market segment.